THE MILKCAP MOMENTUM

Milkcaps are fairly commonplace across Wisconsin’s taverns, having essentially become part of Wisconsin’s bar culture for decades now.

“The business has grown drastically over the years,” acknowledges Dayton Young, president of Wisconsin Souvenir Milkcaps . “Our company’s products and way of doing business were found to be legal nearly 22 years ago. At that time, our founder, Wally Bohrer, thought it would be a small retirement hobby business, but it has grown dramatically to be much more than that. We deal with more than 50 distributors and coin machine operators that cover all 72 counties.”

The milkcap promotion works by selling a collector milkcap. People are able to play for free through the “no purchase necessary” process by obtaining a game piece at no charge. This can be done by getting an entry form via the Wisconsin Souvenir Milkcaps website (www.wimilkcaps.com), or places where milkcaps are sold and mailing it into the clearinghouse. Consumers are then provided a chance at playing the promotional game.

“The milkcaps can be purchased mainly through vending machines at many tavern league locations or from a container behind the bar,” Young says. “They also can be found in vending machines at some convenience stores, grocery stores and other miscellaneous spots throughout the state.”

The response to the milkcap gaming option has been tremendous from both patrons and TLW bar owners alike. As Young explains, the milkcaps provide a collection opportunity, social recreation for folks to enjoy with their drinks and food, and the satisfying feeling of cracking open the windows on the game pieces.

“The bar owners love our product because it is an additional revenue stream and it provides their customers with some extra recreation to enjoy while in their establishment,” according to Young.

There are a few trends, however, surrounding milkcaps that tavern owners should be aware of. “First, you should know that if you are using pulltabs in your bar, the only legal ones in the state are either Wisconsin Lottery pulltabs or Wisconsin Souvenir Milkcaps,” Young says.

“You also should be aware of some counterfeiting of large winning pulltabs that started to get noticed within the last couple of years. Fortunately, milkcaps have protection features that combat this form of fraud, but I am not certain if unregulated, illegitimate, illegal tickets have these safety measures built in. I do not believe many of them do.”

Wisconsin Souvenir Milkcaps also offers a TLW SafeRide milkcap/pulltab where each box sold offers a rebate of $25 that goes to the league’s SafeRide Program where the milkcaps are sold.

As Young points out, “The future looks bright for milkcaps to continue to provide folks with the enjoyment of collecting milkcaps, and the recreation of pulltabs that they have come to know and love at Wisconsin taverns.”